Yardbird

Yardbird is a word that has had several informal meanings.

In the American south

In the Deep South of the United States, yardbird is a colloquialism for the domestic chicken. In one explanation for American saxophonist Charlie Parker's nickname being "Yardbird", jazz trombonist and blues singer Clyde E. B. Bernhardt in his autobiography I Remember: Eighty Years of Black Entertainment, Big Bands, states:

[Parker] told me he got the name Yardbird because he was crazy about eating chicken: fried, baked, boiled, stewed, anything. He liked it. Down there in the South, all chickens are called yardbirds. Every house has some.[1]

Jazz pianist Jay McShann backs up the story in an interview in 1999:

Charlie [Parker] yelled, 'Back up. You hit a yardbird!' He got out of the car and got it and carried the chicken on into Lincoln. He had it cooked and ate it all in one sitting.[2]

Military

During the Second World War, yardbird meant a basic trainee in the armed forces, as they spent most of their time in the yards.[3]

Naval vessels coming into port for maintenance would be 'descended upon' by crews in the port's maintenance yard. Hence, the ship's crew referred to them as "yardbirds".

"Yardbird" was the nickname given to two B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the United States Air Force that flew combat missions over Europe during the Second World War. Both bombers were based at RAF Molesworth in England, as part of the 303d Bombardment Group (Heavy):[4] "Yardbird" (41-24602), piloted by captain John W. Farrar (360th Bombardment Squadron), was shot down by flak and German fighter aircraft on 29 May 1943, near Pleubian, France.[5][6] "Yardbird II" (42-5620), piloted by 1st Lt. Paul S. Tippet (360th Bombardment Squadron), was shot down by two German fighter aircraft over the North Sea, returning from a successful raid over Emden, on 2 October 1943, with all eleven aboard killed in action.[7][8] It was one of the group's most successful bombers having completed over 43 missions.[9]

Prison slang

Yardbird is post-Second World War African American slang for a prisoner, from the notion of prison yards.[10]

Toy train

The Doepke Yardbird was a 1950s hand-cranked, rideable toy train.[11]

Other use

Yardbird was the name of a Usenet child pornography ring,[12] an approximate third of whose members were arrested in 2006; the eponymous leader remains at large.[13]

See also
  • The Yardbirds, an English Rock/Blues band
  • Railyard, sections of parallel train tracks, where many rail cars are

References
  1. Berhardt, Clyde E. B. (1986). I Remember: Eighty Years of Black Entertainment, Big Bands. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-8122-8018-0. OCLC 12805260.
  2. Jazzjester (2007). "Jay McShann Biography". Bandleaders of the Great Band Era. Swingmusic.net. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  3. "Army & Navy: In the Rough". Time. Time.com: 5. July 1943.
  4. Miller, Donald L (2006). Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys who Fought the Air War against Nazi Germany. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. p. 303. ISBN 978-0-7432-3545-7. OCLC 153578358.
  5. "303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 40" (PDF). Mission Reports. 303rdbg.com. 2001. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  6. Astor, Gerald (2003). The Mighty Eighth: the Air War in Europe as Told by the Men Who Fought It. London: Greenhill. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-440-22648-2. OCLC 59528908.
  7. "303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 73" (PDF). Mission Reports. valerosos.com. 2001. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  8. O'Neill, Brian D (1999). Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer: B-17s over Germany. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-07-134145-5. OCLC 40890943.
  9. O'Neill, Brian D (2003). 303rd Bombardment Group. Oxford: Osprey. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-84176-537-2. OCLC 51779489.
  10. Conrad, John P. (March 1985). "Charting a Course for Imprisonment Policy". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. American Academy of Political and Social Science. 478: 126. doi:10.1177/0002716285478001011. JSTOR 1045954.
  11. "About this site". www.tnttoytrucks.com.
  12. "DE(E)SU - Liberté Linux: Baal (correspondence)". dee.su.
  13. "Yardbird's Effective Usenet Tradecraft - Hacker OPSEC". grugq.github.io.
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